Toothless is my spirit animal. I never read the 2003 children’s books, but I saw the entire How To Train Your Dragon series which began in 2010, and fell in love with Toothless, Hiccup, Astrid, and the whole gang. And now that there is a live-action remake, I really wanted to see it. And since we’d shown the animated movies to our daughter and she enjoyed them, we thought it might be a good movie for the whole family (even our youngest, who had never seen them).

Those who know me well, know that Superman is my favorite superhero. I grew up reading all sorts of superheroes, and enjoy many of them, but Superman always held a special place in my heart. Sure, he’s nearly infinitely powerful and can fly and all that. But power and flight are table stakes for superheroes these days. Superman’s real superpower was that he chose to do good, to do what was right, because it was right.

The entire two-season run of Andor, 24 episodes in all, is streaming on Disney+. Andor is prestige, must see television. It’s compelling human drama, acted brilliantly by some of the top actors working today. The writing and direction are inspired and intentional. The production design amazing. The fact that it is also one of the most compelling Star Wars sagas ever committed to screen is icing on the cake. But this draws from many real world documentaries and movies about conflicts, fascist takeovers and tactics, and rebellions; so while Andor may take place “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away,” it feels familiar, like it took place here too, in living memory.

# America is going to Hell Trump’s tariffs are bringing on a global recession that will more than likely hit America harder than it hits the rest of the world. Trump is destroying international relationships left and right. He is dismantling national networks for health, education, social services, and so on. By the time he leaves office, even if a more sane government takes over, it will be left with a broken, impoverished, bitterly divided nation, deep in a downward spiral, with no friends left in the free world.

# I stand with Ukraine What Trump and his stooge did to Zelenskyy was depraved and disgusting. Everyone already knew that Trump is a narcissist who demands that foreign leaders kiss the ring. What everyone didn’t know—and is abundantly clear now—is that established relationships, allies, treaties mean nothing to him. # Budapest Memorandum The USSR had a lot of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Those would have made Ukraine one of the strongest nuclear powers in the world.